Hello! I am Çağla (Cha-la).
This is how I pronounce my full name: Yener Çağla Çimendereli.
I am a Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Old Dominion University. I am also a Ph.D. Candidate in the Philosophy Department at Syracuse University. As the 2025-2026 recipient of the Marjorie Boulton Fellowship, my research is currently supported by the ESF.
I work on language ethics and linguistic justice. More than half of the people in the world are multilingual, many of them speaking languages as nonnative speakers. Having a clear picture of what navigating the world as a nonnative speaker entails is essential for understanding the moral and social implications of linguistic regimes. In my research, I identify the ways in which speaking a language one did not acquire as a native tongue may impair an agent’s essential human capacities even when the speaker pass as a competent speaker.
I am from Istanbul. I did my undergraduate work at Boğaziçi University, earning a dual-degree in Political Science & International Relations and in Philosophy. I also earned a master’s degree in Philosophy from the same university. My MA thesis was on Inference to the Best Explanation in Moral Theory.